Geomorphological History Research Articles

History of geomorphology and quaternary geology - Edited by R H Grapes, D R Oldroyd and A Grigelis

History of geomorphology and quaternary geology - Edited by R H Grapes, D R Oldroyd and A Grigelis

A geographical analysis of the Atalanti alluvial plain and coastline as the location of a potential tourist site, Bronze through Early Iron Age Mitrou, East-Central Greece

Tourism accounts for 15% of Greece’s gross domestic product. In the wake of a struggling economy many of Greece’s coastal villages have turned to tourism to supplement local economies. Preliminary analysis of structural and cultural materials recovered from an excavation on Mitrou, a small islet near the coastal village Tragana located 140 km north of Athens has established the site’s contribution to a fuller understanding of settlement practices in Central Greece from the end of the Bronze Age through the Early Iron Age. The site’s historic importance combined with its scenic coastal setting has considerable potential to be developed into an important tourist site. The physical geography of the region is the product of the complex interaction of coastal, alluvial, fluvial, and seismic processes. This investigation integrates the archaeological material with a geographical analysis employing a variety of geographical techniques (soil and sediment analysis, past climatic data, environmental surveys, and geospatial modeling) to reconstruct the geomorphological history of the site and to evaluate the area as a potential tourist site.

A survey of the signal stability and radiation dose response of sulfates in the context of adapting optical dating for Mars

The Martian landscape is currently dominated by eolian processes, and eolian dunes are a direct geomorphic expression of the dynamic interaction between the atmosphere and the lithosphere of planets. The timing, frequency, and spatial extent of dune mobility directly reflects changing climatic conditions, therefore, sedimentary depositional ages are important for understanding the paleoclimatic and geomorphologic history of features and processes present on the surface of the Earth or Mars. Optical dating is an established terrestrial dosimetric dating technique that is being developed for this task on Mars. Gypsum and anhydrite are two of the most stable and abundant sulfate species found on the Earth, and they have been discovered in Martian sediments along with various magnesium sulfates and jarosite. In this study, the optical dating properties of various Ca-, Mg-, and Fe-bearing sulfates were documented to help evaluate the influence they may have on in-situ optical dating in eolian environments on Mars. Single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) experimental procedures have been adapted to characterize the radiation dose response and signal stability of the Martian sulfate analogs. Jarosite was dosimetrically inert in our experiments. The radiation dose response of the Ca- and Mg-sulfates was monotonically increasing in all cases with characteristic doses ranging from ∼100 to ∼1000 Gy. Short-term signal fading also varied considerably in the Ca- and Mg-sulfates ranging from ∼0% to ∼40% per decade for these materials. These results suggest that the OSL properties of Ca- and Mg-sulfates will need to be considered when developing protocols for in-situ optical dating on Mars, but more enticingly, our results foreshadow the potential for gypsum to be developed as a geochronometer for Mars or the Earth.

Paleoecological responses to avulsion and floodplain evolution in a semiarid Australian freshwater wetland

Paleoecological responses to coupled geomorphic and hydrological changes have rarely been studied using a multiproxy approach in freshwater floodplain wetlands of semiarid Australia. The Macquarie Marshes are a large, multi-channelled and morphodynamic floodplain wetland system in the lowland interior of the Murray-Darling Basin, southeastern Australia. Evidence from historical maps, aerial photographs, geomorphology and sedimentology indicate that avulsion in the southern Macquarie Marshes caused the formation of a major new channel (Monkeygar Creek) and the abandonment of a reach of the Macquarie River in the last 200 years. Paleobiological samples from near-uniform sediment cores were studied to determine the environmental changes related to this avulsion, as well as associated floodplain evolution and hydrological changes in the adjoining flood-reliant wetlands. Fifteen macrophyte taxa, seven charophyte taxa, 28 diatom taxa and 18 aquatic invertebrate taxa were identified in sediments from the terminal reach of the Macquarie River and the active lower reach of Monkeygar Creek. Paleoecological reconstruction indicates that the slowly accreting marsh (ca 0.032 to 0.037 cm a−1) around the Macquarie River (Terminus Marsh) was more frequently and deeply inundated in the past (presence of limnetic zooplankton before ca 1626 cal. years BP) than during the penultimate pre-avulsion phase (absence of limnetic zooplankton and more diverse terrestrial and aquatic vegetation from ca 540 cal. years BP). In contrast, the floodplain near lower Monkeygar Creek was only periodically inundated prior to avulsion (high diversity of charophytes and low diversity of diatoms and invertebrates before ca 149 years BP), before experiencing disturbance, rapid accretion and ecological succession during the avulsion (paucity of wetland biota in distinct flood facies ca 149 years BP). This part of the floodplain became a substantial wetland, dominated by algae (charophytes and diatoms) and submerged macrophytes, due to a more consistent flood regime following the avulsion. The contemporary marsh on lower Monkeygar Creek has evolved in the last ca 54 years into a shallower, less frequently flooded wetland (new dominance of emergent macrophytes, charophytes and littoral cladocerans), probably due to changes in inundation caused by rapid local floodplain accretion (ca 0.409 to 0.556 cm a−1) and possibly river regulation. This multiproxy approach provides some of the first evidence of significant changes in wetland communities and ecological successions that are directly related to the geomorphic processes of avulsion and floodplain evolution in a semiarid wetland system such as the Macquarie Marshes.

Detailed geomorphological map sheet Bela Palanka at scale 1:100,000

The Geomorphological Map Sheet Bela Palanka is a graphical representation of landforms in the area covered by the Topographical Map Sheet Bela Palanka at scale 1:100,000. The map is published in 2008 by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA) and the SASA Geodynamics Board. It is the first detailed geomorphological map edited in Serbia. This paper presents the methods used in preparing the geomorphological map, the contents and the mode of data presentation, geologic structure, genetic types of landforms and the subtypes, and the geomorphological history since the Neogene.

Interpreting luminescence data from a portable OSL reader: three case studies in fluvial settings

AbstractOptically stimulated luminescence (OSL) is a technique that has been applied from the mid‐1980s, mainly for sediment dating. The OSL technique is based on sample stimulation by light to determine the luminescence signal that is stored in the crystal lattices of sediment grains after deposition, burial by later sediment and subsequent exposure to ionizing radiation from radioactive elements in the surrounding sediment. In such sediment dating, two parameters are required: the equivalent dose (i.e. the luminescence signal stored in the grains), and the dose rate (i.e. the ionizing energy from α, β and γ radiation emitted by naturally occurring radioisotopes in the deposit, plus the effects of cosmic radiation). In this research, the OSL technique is not used for dating. The study goal is to analyse only the luminescence signals (the total photon counts) in polymineral samples obtained after light stimulation in the blue (BLSL) and infrared (IRSL) wavelengths using a portable OSL reader designed and built at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC). Three fluvial case studies – from Cambodia, Australia and Mexico – are used to illustrate the geomorphological interpretations possible with the portable OSL reader data from sediments resulting from a range of different depositional processes. The case studies show that aspects of sediment's transport and depositional processes can be inferred from the portable OSL reader data, providing valuable insights into geomorphological history. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Overview of the Zambezi River System: Its history, fish fauna, fisheries, and conservation

The Zambezi River has a catchment area of 1.32 million km2, including parts of eight countries. Three divisions of the river are recognised: the Upper Zambezi separated from the Middle Zambezi by Victoria Falls, and the Lower Zambezi below Cahora Bassa gorge. The Okavango River is also linked to the Upper Zambezi system in wet years in an area of complex geomorphological history. Habitats include forested headwater streams, extensive floodplains, deep gorges, two large man-made lakes and an extensive delta. On floodplains, subsistence fisheries exploit the natural seasonal cycles, while the man-made lakes have commercial-scale fisheries for introduced kapenta, Limnothrissa miodon. Aquaculture is on a small scale, though with larger commercial cage culture enterprises on Lake Kariba. This paper summarises current knowledge on the fish faunas and their origins, the status of the different fisheries and their management, and the conservation status of the river's resources.

The influence of Wisconsinan glaciation and contemporary stream hydrology on microsatellite DNA variation in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Microsatellite DNA variation was examined in rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) populations from throughout British Columbia, Canada, to address the roles of historical isolation, postglacial dispersal, and contemporary geomorphology in structuring genetic variation and differentiation. We detected signatures of historical isolation and postglacial recolonization in the form of “interior” and “coastal” population groupings, a decline in genetic variation as distance increased from putative glacial refugia, and different extents of isolation-by-distance in different regions. Rainbow trout populations were structured genetically into major regions and into smaller watersheds and then into drainages. Within drainages, high levels of dispersal and gene flow were inferred between geographically proximate and contiguous lakes. Elevation, stream branching points (nodes), fluvial distance, migration barriers, and stream and lake order influenced genetic diversity within, and differentiation among, populations. Habitat characteristics, particularly lake surface area and perimeter, were poor predictors of genetic variation. Although founder events and postglacial dispersal influenced broadscale patterns of genetic diversity in rainbow trout, our results suggest that contemporary factors can strongly modulate historical patterns.

The Qijurittuq site (IbGk-3), Eastern Hudson Bay: An IPY Interdisciplinary Study

Geografisk Tidsskrift—Danish Journal of Geography 110(2):227–243, 2010 An interdisciplinary study was conducted at Qijurittuq (IbGk-3), an archaeological site located on Drayton Island along the eastern shore of Hudson Bay, Nunavik. Local Inuit made important contributions to the research. High school students participated in the field school, and elders shared their traditional knowledge. The elders expressed an interest in the source of the wood used to construct Qijurittuq's semi-subterranean dwellings, and this inspired us to expand our research in that direction. This interdisciplinary study included a reconstruction of the geomorphological and environmental history of Drayton Island, wood provenance and dendrochronology studies, research on house architecture and settlement patterns, and a zooarchaeological analysis. This paper synthesizes the preliminary results of this interdisciplinary investigation within the context of climate change. We discuss the persistence of semi-subterranean dwellings in eastern Hudson Bay long after they had been abandoned elsewhere. At Qijurittuq, their abandonment corresponds with the end of Little Ice Age. However, at the same time, the development of more permanent contact with Euro-Canadians was having a strong impact upon Inuit culture.

Population history of the Amazonian one‐lined pencilfish based on intron DNA data

AbstractThe evolutionary history of Amazonian organisms is generally poorly understood. This is particularly true for small floodplain fish species that show reduced dispersal capabilities. The one‐lined pencilfish Nannostomus unifasciatus (family Lebiasinidae) is a small fish found in flooded forests of the Rio Negro Floodplain (RNF) in central Amazonia, Brazil. We used a large number of samples collected throughout the species distribution in the RNF and in its headwaters and DNA data from the second intron of the S7 ribosomal protein to reconstruct the phylogeography of N. unifasciatus. Two markedly distinct phylogroups of N. unifasciatus were detected in the RNF. Although these lineages are largely allopatric, they remain reproductively isolated in regions where they overlap, suggesting cryptic speciation in this group in the Rio Negro basin. Coalescent‐based statistical methods suggest that the history of these populations was dominated by a Miocene fragmentation of the species in the headwaters of the basin that originated the two phylogroups, followed by recent events of demographic and range expansions in the floodplain. This pattern is discussed within the context of the geomorphologic history of the region, especially geotectonics, and of marine incursions. Our results match the predictions of the palaeogeography hypothesis of speciation and outline the usefulness of an intron DNA marker to reconstruct population history of a central Amazonian fish. Because N. unifasciatus is harvested commercially in the ornamental fishery of the RNF, the two species and limited dispersal capacity between nearby populations identified here are also important to develop sound management decisions in the region.

The Holocene infill of Lake Conjola, a narrow incised valley system on the southeast coast of Australia

A detailed Holocene sedimentological and geomorphological history of the sedimentary infill of Lake Conjola, a barrier estuary on the southeast coast of Australia, is presented. Results show that a remnant Last Interglacial barrier system is preserved in the mouth of a narrow incised valley. During the early stage of Holocene sedimentary infill, a laterally extensive transgressive sand facies was deposited as rising post-glacial sea-level breached remnants of the Last Interglacial barrier ca. 7500 cal BP. From 7500 to 4000 cal BP sediment continued to accumulate within the mouth of the incised valley, forming an extensive flood-tide delta within the drowned river estuary. Marine influences were restricted by further sediment accumulation at the mouth of the estuary, leading to the development of mid-Holocene barrier and back-barrier depositional environments. This research adds detail to stratigraphic models of the sedimentary infill and geomorphological evolution of barrier estuaries formed in narrow incised valley systems on the southeast coast of Australia, and provides a global model for estuarine deposition in regions that have been tectonically stable over the late Quaternary.

Lütschine fan delta response to climate variability and land use in the Bernese Alps during the last 2400 years

Despite important progress in Holocene palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental studies in the Alps during recent years, the knowledge of Alpine river dynamics and their chronology is still limited. To address the influence of external factors, such as climatic variability and land use, on aggradation and floods, we focused our research on the Late Holocene sedimentary and geomorphologic history of the Lütschine fan delta. Morphological mapping, sedimentology, geochemistry, palynology, historical maps, building inventories and 14C-dating techniques provided valuable data for the reconstruction of palaeofloods, wetland environments, and anthropogenic impact. The sedimentological findings showed a general agreement between geochemical and pollen changes and δ 14C anomalies from 2400 to 850 yr cal. BP. Furthermore, the coarse-grained layers, deposited during palaeofloods about 400 yr cal. BC and 100, 700, 1100, 1550, and 1830 AD, correlate with positive radiocarbon anomalies, suggesting that aggradation in the Lütschine fan delta during the focused period was triggered by solar forcing. According to our pollen data and the traced correlations, the Lütschine river floods occurred during cold and wet periods. The return interval of recorded flooding events during the last 2400 years varies between 300 and 600 years. With regard to the last millennium, anthropogenic impacts, such as woodland clearance for grazing and agriculture and river diversion, have changed the sedimentary and geomorphic pattern on the Lütschine fan delta, reducing wetland environments.

Nuclear and mitochondrial diversification in two native California minnows: insights into taxonomic identity and regional phylogeography

Diversification of the California icthyofauna has been greatly influenced by a complex geomorphological history and past fluctuations in climate regimes. This complex history has resulted in areas of high endemism for a number of taxa. Here we present data on the two species in the genus Lavinia, the California roach ( Lavinia symmetricus) and hitch ( Lavinia exilicauda), that are widespread throughout the region. Individuals were sequenced at two mitochondrial DNA fragments and genotyped at eight microsatellite loci. Mitochondrial DNA indicated the presence to two highly divergent clades representing roach from the Gualala and Pit Rivers, which diverged from all other Lavinia ∼3–6 MYA. Support was also found for roach from the Navarro River, Tomales Bay region, the Red Hills region, and the Russian River-Clear Lake basin. We found no evidence for any geographical groupings of mtDNA haplotypes for roach and hitch from the Monterey Bay region and the Sacramento–San Joaquin River drainages. Additionally roach and hitch from these two areas could not be readily distinguished by mtDNA data. Analysis of microsatellite DNA recovered all groupings found in the mtDNA analysis and was able to separate out roach, hitch, and all currently recognized subspecies of each species. These results indicate that hybridization may obscure the phylogenetic/phylogeographic informativeness of mtDNA in this group. Additionally, these results suggest that differentiation in this group occurs at the river basin level and that the described genetic entities constitute distinct units and should be conserved as such.

Improvements in Frost Heave Laboratory Testing of Fine-Grained Soils

We present a laboratory system designed for studying frost heave in fine-grained soil. The system consists of: a modified refrigerator, a frost heave test cell, a laser for measuring heave, a differential pressure transducer for measuring water intake, and platinum resistance temperature detectors for measuring pedestal temperatures. The frost heave cell allows for visual observation of the sample, and accommodates pretest sample consolidation, freezing tests using a variety of freezing methods, triaxial tests on frozen soil, and thaw consolidation tests. The modified refrigerator maintains the specified temperature ±0.5°C during the full length of the test. Test results indicate repeatability of frost heave ratios ξ to within ±7% , and average heave rates to within ±0.05 mm∕h . Results from frost heave tests conducted on five fine-grained soils indicate that: (1) a soil removed of its colloidal organic content becomes less frost susceptible; (2) the geomorphologic history of a “regional” soil is a critic...

Challenges for a cross-disciplinary geoarchaeology: The intersection between environmental history and geomorphology

Geoarchaeology is a growing subfield of cross-disciplinary research at the intersection between geomorphology, environmental history, and archaeology. This prospective essay does not aim to analyze the nature or evolution of geoarachaeology, or to review available techniques and methods. Instead it addresses challenges. Exciting challenges confront geoarchaeology in the form of persistent problems that demand satisfactory solutions, despite improving skills and innovative technologies. Drawing from the full record of human history, a number of practical issues can be highlighted to explicate these challenges: (1) Open-air archaeological sites are the main object of study for the Early to Mid-Pleistocene, even though they represent open systems that raise fundamental questions about archaeo-taphonomic integrity. How were sites buried and then modified by selective preservation, horizontal or vertical disturbance, and the role of carnivores? Is it possible to determine the degree to which such sites accurately record prehistoric human behavior, prior to the Late Pleistocene when hearths and living structures lend better definition to occupation surfaces? Can non-primary open-air sites also shed light on human activities and environmental history? (2) Cave sites have long been favored by archaeologists because of the impression that they represent relatively complete and undisturbed archaeostratigraphic sequences. But serious problems also exist here in regard to the nature of accumulation and the sources of mineral and biogenic sediments in what were open systems, liable to disturbance, despite comparatively low-energy processes. (3) Less familiar are urban and other architectural sites, where processes of formation and degradation mimic natural sedimentation and erosion. Such a geoarchaeology can be highly informative for urban processes, demographic cycles, or the intersection between sites and their surrounding landscapes. (4) Spatial components of geoarchaeological research need more systematic consideration, for locational strategies and with an appreciation that site presence or absence allows a more dynamic modeling of settlement and procurement strategies. (5) Regional settlement expansion and contraction may also inform on mosaic evolution or Pleistocene dispersals, including the Out of Africa hypothesis. (5) Finally, multiple themes connected with environmental degradation during Holocene times may open new windows to examine specific problems by objective criteria, so contributing to a wider academic discourse about long-term trends, the interfingering of climatic and land-use factors in cause-and-effect dilemmas, or the construction of future scenarios in an era of accelerating planetary change. The focus of archaeology is shifting to later ranges of prehistory so that geoarchaeologists now have a mandate to engage more directly with urban, spatial, and degradation issues. This should be met with a broader and more inclusive agenda, one that optimizes on expertise with historical geomorphology and environmental history, but in collaboration with archaeologists and other social scientists. That would sustain a more prominent role for geoarchaeology in the university curriculum.

Evolution of Mustang Graben, Tibet Himalayas, due to eastward extrusion of Tibet Plateau in and after the Last Glacial Age

Mustang Graben is a NS trending longitudinal depression located in Tibet Himalayan Zone just behind the Higher Himalayas of Nepal (Figure 1). Its height is 3,000 to 4,000 m asl. surrounded by Tibetan Himalayas of which summit level is 5,000 to 7,000 m asl. Its width and length are less than ten kilometers and more than fifty kilometers, respectively. Kali Gandaki River originates from the uppermost course of the Mustang valley and flows through the valley. The river joins to the Ganga, forming the deepest transverse valley across the Higher Himalayas in the world. Development of such a graben in Tibetan Plateau is attributed to EW tensile stress field resulted from eastward extrusion of the Tibetan Plateau (Molnar and Tapponier 1975). There are some chronological studies on Takkhola Formation, burring Mustang Graben, and studies on relation between upheaval of Himalaya Range and deposition of Takkhola Formation (Yoshida et al. 1984). Hurtado et al. (2001) reports neotectonics of the Takkhola Graben. There are, however, no detail studies based on a field research in the upper Mustang about the most recent active faulting such as deformation of fluvial terraces and glacial landforms developed in the late Pleistocene or Holocene. The authors (Yagi, Maemoku and Dangol) carried out a field study in the upper Mustang valley up to the border between Nepal and Tibet in Sept. 2002. This study also depends on elaborate interpretation of aerial photographs on scale of 1/50,000 over the Mustang Graben with special reference to terrace classification and active faults. Fluvio-glacial terraces as time markers Kali Gandaki River is an entrenched valley with more than 12 levels of terraces. The terraces are outwash plains continuing from moraine, fans and fluvial terraces. Development of those terraces was caused by complex of detritus supply due to glaciation, hydrological and tectonic conditions in this valley in the late Pleistocene and Holocene. There are some previous studies on geomorphological history along the Kali Gandaki River in the lower course from Kagbeni (Iwata et al. 1982, Iwata 1984, Hasegawa and Sasaki 1998, Hurtado et al. 2001). This study tentatively classified those terraces into three groups; Higher terrace group, Middle terrace group and Lower terrace group, respectively. They are correlated as follows; Higher terrace group: MIS 4-3, Middle terrace group: MIS 2 and Lower terrace group: MIS 1, respectively, on the basis of their continuity along Kali Gandaki River, relative chronological level of terraces and radio carbon data obtained from terrace deposits (Iwata 1984, Hasegawa and Sasaki 1998, Hurtado et al. 2001). The higher terrace group is at least older than 22,770 yrs BP (Hasegawa & Sasaki 1998). This study also reports new radio carbon data from the Lowest terrace (L II ) of 2,605 Cal BP just near Lo Mantang. Elder terraces are distributed in the lower course side around Jomoson, and younger terraces are distributed in the upper course side over the study area. Such chronological feature implies glaciation in the Holocene age in the upper Mustang area.

Contributions to the history of geomorphology and Quaternary geology: an introduction

This Special Publication deals with various aspects of the histories of geomorphology and Quaternary geology in different parts of the world. Geomorphology is the study of landforms and the processes that shape them, past and present. Quaternary geology studies the sediments and associated materials that have come to mantle much of Earth's surface during the relatively recent Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. Geomorphology, with its concern for Earth's surface features and processes, deals with information that is much more amenable to observation and measurement than is the case for most geological work. Quaternary geology focuses mostly, but not exclusively, on the Earth's surficial sedimentary cover, which is usually more accessible than the harder rocks of the deeper past. Institutionally, geomorphology is usually situated alongside, or within, academic departments of geology or geography. In most English-speaking countries, its links are more likely to be with geography; but in the United States these connections are usually shared between geography and geology, although rarely in the same institution. In leading institutions everywhere, strong links exist between geomorphology and such cognate disciplines as soil science, hydrology, oceanography and civil engineering. Although nominally part of geology, Quaternary geology also has strong links with geography and with those disciplines, such as climatology, botany, zoology and archaeology, concerned with environmental change through the relatively recent past. Given that geomorphology concerns the study of the Earth's surface (i.e. landforms, and their origin, evolution and the processes that shape them) and that the uppermost strata are in many cases of Pleistocene and Holocene age, it is unsurprising that this Special Publication should deal ‘promiscuously’ with topics in both geomorphology and Quaternary studies. This particular selection has been developed from a nucleus of papers presented at a conference on the histories of geomorphology and Quaternary geology held in the Baltic States …

About this title ‐ History of Geomorphology and Quaternary Geology

This book deals with various interesting aspects of the histories of geomorphology and Quaternary geology in different parts of the world. The papers cover a range of topics: the origin of the term ‘Quaternary’, histories of ideas and debates relating to aspects of fluvial geomorphology (USA and Australia), glacial geomorphology and glaciation (Northern Europe, the Baltic countries, Russia, Iceland, and New Zealand), desert dunes and the geology of Australia, peneplains in China, a palaeo-Tokyo Bay in Japan, together with biographies of Charles Cotton (New Zealand), Valerija Čepulytė (Lithuania) and Česlovas Pakuckas (Lithuania and Poland) that highlight their respective contributions to the disciplines of geomorphology and Quaternary geology. There is an autobiographical contribution from E. E. Milanovsky (Russia) on his work in Siberia, the Caucasus and Iceland, illustrated by his sketches made in the field.

Development in Soil Survey; History of Geomorphology and Soil Landscape Projects

Development in Soil Survey; History of Geomorphology and Soil Landscape Projects

Reply to the Comments by H. Takemoto on “Mud Flow Deposits Derived from the Activity of Asama Volcano and Their Impacts on the Geomorphic Development of the Northwestern Part of the Kanto Plain, Central Japan” in Terms of the Significance in Historical Geomorphology

Reply to the Comments by H. Takemoto on “Mud Flow Deposits Derived from the Activity of Asama Volcano and Their Impacts on the Geomorphic Development of the Northwestern Part of the Kanto Plain, Central Japan” in Terms of the Significance in Historical Geomorphology